Phorcys
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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In Greek mythology, Phorcys (also Phorkys, from Greek: Φόρκυς), a primordial sea god, generally cited (first in Hesiod) as the son of Pontus and Gaia. According to the Orphic hymns, Phorcys, Cronus and Rhea were the eldest offspring of Oceanus and Tethys. Classical scholar Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods Nereus and Proteus. His wife was Ceto, and he is most notable in myth for fathering by Ceto a host of monstrous children collectively known as the Phorcydes. In extant Hellenistic-Roman mosaics, Phorcys was depicted as a fish-tailed merman with crab-claw fore-legs and red-spiked skin.
An unrelated character also named Phorcys appears in The Iliad as a Phrygian leader in the Trojan War, a son of Aretaon and brother of Ascanius. He is killed in battle by the Greek hero Ajax.
Sources
- Kerenyi, Karl 1951 (1980). The Gods of the Greeks.
